Chapter 50 Chapter 50 Patrol.
There was a lot of cursing in the vegetable garden of Benguli.
"I just grew these turnips, and before I could even eat them, he stole half of them! You rotten pig! Even God will not forgive you!"
Liao was seen digging at the vegetables that were stepped on and damaged. She felt distressed and angry, and kept cursing.
"It's all the fault of those refugees from Crouching Snake Valley!"
The woman working in the vegetable patch nearby said that their vegetable patch was remote, unlike the vegetable plots in front of or behind the house. It was away from the houses and people, and no one was watching over it at night. She thought that the vegetables were probably stolen by those starving refugees.
"Whose life is easy? If you want to steal, go steal from the wealthy families in Shengchang! If you come to steal from my house and get caught, I'll break his hands and feet and tie him up under a tree for three days and three nights!"
The thief only took the stems at the bottom of the turnip, leaving a pile of leaves on the ground. Liao was so angry that she cursed for the whole afternoon. She picked up the leftover leaves and took them home to stew them.
Seeing this, Zhuang Huiniang sighed, "It's really getting more chaotic. Yesterday, a family had their vegetables stolen. They reported it to Qiudao, but Qiudao couldn't do anything about it..."
Because the porridge shed outside the pavilion was demolished, refugees were on the run. The next day, Old Man Chen accompanied them to Shengchangli, holding a hoe and keeping a watchful eye on the refugees in Woshe Valley. They agreed to pick them up at noon.
Ji Xu was carrying a basket and asking questions from house to house. When he was near the Bao family, he saw a group of people gathered at the door, making a lot of noise.
The one surrounded was Master Bao. He had lost the air of the birthday party. His face was round and thin, his beard was unkempt, and he didn't even button his robe properly. He just kept swearing and grumbling:
"Damn you thief! I just got a scarf for my birthday this year. It's made of fine silk and is worth a hundred coins. And my cotton robe made of chicken-crow cloth,
Such a big jade ring was stolen. My sick wife is so angry that she can't get out of bed. Tell me, what should I do?"
"Has anyone seen any trace of the thief?" asked a spectator.
Mr. Bao's neighbors all shook their heads and said, "I didn't see it."
"Oh, you don't have to guess who it is. Those who hang around here all day are the refugees from Woshe Valley." said a neighbor.
Some people echoed: "They must be very poor and stole it at night!"
When talking about those refugees who lingered, there was always resentment:
"The village head didn't even bother to take care of it. Now the place is in such a mess that a piece of bacon I was drying in front of the door yesterday is missing."
"I'm running out of clothes at home!"
"The cabbages in my field were also stolen!"
"It's possible that those refugees stole it. We should chase them away as soon as possible."
As a result, they flocked to the village headman, asking him to make a judgment and drive the refugees out of Niupi Township.
When the noise faded away, the surroundings suddenly became quiet. The north wind rustled the dead leaves on the ground, and Ji Xu felt something was wrong.
When she turned around, she saw a man staring at her from behind. His face was covered in dust, his clothes were tattered, and his eyes were slightly crazy.
"Girl, please give me some of your food. Please be kind."
While begging for mercy, he reached out to grab Ji Xu.
Ji Xu had already started running back when he started talking, and he could only hear him calling to his companions from behind:
"That girl is a merchant. I just saw some food in her basket!"
They came from Guandong and didn't know about the popular dice game. They had only seen others eating it and knew it could fill their stomachs. For a while, three or two refugees followed Ji Xu and kept asking for money.
It just so happened that all the houses here had closed their doors, and a group of people had just dispersed to find the village chief to argue, but they couldn't find any local villagers to protect them.
Fortunately, there was a pine forest not far away, and Ji Xu called out from outside the courtyard: "Aunt Cai!"
When Cai Gaohuan heard the sound and opened the gate, Ji Xu arrived and said, "Some refugees are targeting me. I need to take shelter in my aunt's house."
Cai Gaohuan looked behind her and saw that the three men gradually stopped walking, but were unwilling to leave.
She took Ji Xu's hand and said:
"You're here, A'da and A'er. Your sister is home, why don't you come out to greet her?"
As she was speaking, two sturdy sons of her family came out, stopped, and finally scared the people away.
Cai Gaohuan pulled her into the main room to sit, poured her some hot water to drink, and asked the little girl at home to bring out some dried pears to the table.
He said, "Have you recovered yet? In my opinion, you should put the business aside for now. They will remember you this time. If you are left alone next time, who knows what they will do when they are starving. Losing some food is one thing, but getting hurt is a big deal."
Ji Xu nodded and said, "Aunt, you are right. We really can't sell it right now. I will also rest at home like you."
Now I have saved 1,300 coins. I have food and firewood stored at home, and vegetables behind the house. Even if there is no income for a while, I can still live a good life. As for other belongings, I will make plans when there is peace in the future.
"That's right. It's really dangerous for you, a girl, to be out alone like this." Cai Gaohuan said.
After talking for a while, they looked up and saw that it was almost noon. Ji Xu said he wanted to leave, and Cai Gaohuan called her two sons to take her out of Shengchangli. Old Man Chen was already waiting there.
When Zhuang Huiniang arrived from the market, the group returned home. All the coins in their baskets were left unsold. They looked at each other, as if they all had something to say:
"Auntie, in my opinion..."
"Xu Nu, how about..."
As soon as they opened their mouths, their words merged into one another in tacit understanding.
"Aunt, you speak first." Ji Xu gave way.
Zhuang Hui Niang said, "Why don't you hold off on selling it for now? I just went to the grain store and asked around, and now the price of flour has risen to 110 coins per dou!
Ma, who made and sold rice cakes, had to close her stall a long time ago. Alas, with the price of grain rising so high, few people have the spare money to buy other snacks, and everyone has to tighten their belts to make ends meet.
Our slot sales are getting worse and worse. Every day we make less than before, and there might be some left over. How much flour have we wasted?
Even though you stockpiled it in the past, you can’t waste it like this. It’s so expensive now. You’re losing all your money. I’m really sorry.”
Ji Xu heard this and said, "My aunt and I are of the same mind. We are both thinking that the refugees are really disturbing right now, so we won't sell them for the time being."
Because business was slow, even the vegetarian dumplings were less made, and flour was consumed much slower than before. There were still seven hu of flour left at home.
At first, the price of flour had not risen to 110 coins, so there was still some profit. If we calculate it based on the price of flour that Zhuang Hui Niang has inquired about now, it would be easier to buy low and sell high and sell the flour directly to the grain store. Selling it in coins would not only waste manpower but also not make much profit. If the price of coins is increased by one more coin, it would become even more difficult to sell. It would be better to keep the flour for home consumption.
"Let's see the market later. If the market is good, I'll buy it back and sell it," she said.
Zhuang Hui Niang agreed, "Yes, I think so too. It's almost the twelfth lunar month, so I should be home making pickles, sweeping the yard, and preparing food for the twelfth lunar month and the first lunar month. I can be busy with anything."
The two men discussed this with Lu Ai, who also said, "It's better to rest at home. There have been a series of people in Benguli having their vegetable plots robbed. I'm worried that your things might be stolen if you pass through Woshe Valley. Safety is more important."
When she got home, Ji Feng said something else.
"This morning, Xiaozhu and I locked the door in the east room. From the window, we saw two refugees, hesitant and trying to steal vegetables from behind our house. I was about to yell, but they finally left."
Fortunately, the vegetable patch behind the house is close to home, and the houses on the ridge are not far apart, so if you shout, all the neighbors can hear you.
Everyone is in a bad mood now. They hate the thieves who stole the vegetables very much. If they catch them, they will probably tie them to trees and beat them.
Therefore, the refugees only dared to attack the vegetables in remote and deserted places. Although they saw that the door of this house was closed, they were still worried about the large number of people inside, so they left after some hesitation.
Because of this, before it got dark, Ji Xu went to Wang Mazi's house. If anyone's house was close, besides the big house next to it to the east, it was Wang's house a few dozen steps away to the west.
If you get robbed at night and start shouting, you can't expect anyone from the main house to rush out. The Chen family is separated by a stretch of fields and won't be able to hear anything for a while. The closest family is only the Wang family.
"Ms. Xu! Come and sit down. How's the business in Shengchang recently? Thanks to you for persuading me to keep those four hu of grain. I sold it when the price rose to eighty coins, and added beans to eat. I also paid off the foreign debt owed to Mr. Feng when I was paying taxes." Cao welcomed her into the house with surprise, and talked about family matters with a gentle tone and gratitude.
The family was poor and had no good food to treat her, so Cao asked Wang Mazi to light a fire and roast a big potato for her to eat.
Ji Xu just told her not to worry and told her the purpose of her visit.
"Don't worry. If there's any quarrel, my wife and I will definitely take our weapons with us. That goes without saying." Cao agreed without asking Wang Mazi's opinion.
"Then I would like to thank you first, aunt." Ji Xu said. This would be an extra layer of defense, and he would feel more at ease at night.
That night, when they went to bed, the Jixu sisters took the hatchet and hoe into the east room and placed them where they could be easily reached. Fortunately, nothing happened that night.
It is said that Mr. Bao and his entourage went before the village headman because their house was robbed.
The village headman Liang Zhao knew that the incident was caused by the demolition of the porridge stalls, so he led the village officers to question every refugee household in Woshe Valley, but to no avail.
However, he also felt that the current chaos might be caused by outsiders stealing. With food prices soaring, everyone's life is more difficult than before. It is possible that some locals are taking advantage of the situation.
The next day, the village headman convened a meeting at the pavilion gate and ordered the village chief to beat the gong in each village to notify everyone and ask each household to send a representative to attend.
Ji Xu was no longer doing business, so he went with the old couple Chen. Along the way, they met many familiar faces from Benguli.
Among them, Liao was in a hurry. Her vegetable garden was stolen and she was very angry. She wanted to ask the village head for an explanation. Jin was also there, with bloodshot eyes, rushing to the front.
Next to the pavilion gate, the village headman Liang Zhao was seen helping an old man get off an ox cart with a respectful attitude.
The old man had a silver-white beard, wore a half-worn black robe, and was leaning on a dove-shaped cane.
"Mr. You is here!"
"It's Mr. You!"
This was Mr. You, one of the village elders. He was old and virtuous, and respected by everyone. After a period of restlessness in the crowd, they soon quieted down and waited for Mr. You to speak.
Even Jin, who was waving her arms and inciting everyone to ask the village head for an explanation, stopped talking for the time being. Liao also suppressed her anger and stopped making a fuss.
"It's truly my fault for sending you out on such a cold day. But the recent chaos in the village reminds me of a neighbor from my childhood. He was incredibly intelligent and skilled in craftsmanship. He helped build the temple in Xiaoshun Village and the bridge in Shengchang Village... yet one day, he was injured in the right hand. Isn't that lamentable?"
"What a pity." everyone said.
A skilled worker was tortured on the right hand, and asked, how could he hold the tool?
"What's the reason for this?"
The village elder, Mr. You, slowly recounted the story. It turned out that this man had coveted a gorgeous skirt of a family, so he took the risk of stealing it at night. He was caught red-handed, and several other stolen items in the family were implicated. Finally, his right hand was cut off and he was exiled to do forced labor.
What You Gong said was thought-provoking. Some people lowered their heads and secretly wiped the cold sweat with their sleeves.
Some of them also accused: "There have been several thefts in our village!"
"It must be the work of these refugees from outside. In my opinion, since we can't find out who the thieves are, we should just kick them out!"
You Gong sighed, "It's winter now, and there are old, weak, women and children among them. If we arbitrarily drive them away, they will surely freeze to death outside... Now, every household has built a shack in Woshe Valley, and usually goes to Niupi Mountain to find some wild vegetables and roots to fill their stomachs.
I will warn them not to enter the territories in the future and to stay in the Snake Valley for the time being.
In addition, patrol officers and farmhands will form five teams of young and strong men to patrol five villages each, preventing refugees from entering each village and preventing local residents from taking advantage of the situation.
In fact, there was another reason why Mr. You did not advocate driving away those dozens of refugees. If he simply stopped people from living, there would inevitably be fighting and tragedy, and there was no guarantee that people would die.
Yin said: "From tomorrow on, the wealthy families of the Gan family will give out bean porridge every other day at the entrance of the pavilion. If there are households with extra food and want to do good deeds, they can also hand over the food to the patrol team without making any announcement. The patrol team will distribute it to the refugees.
These people are also poor people who have fled here. We will make other plans for their future after the county issues a notice."
"The vegetables in my garden are running low. Why don't we drive these thieves away? Let's have some peace and quiet."
After the meeting, there were still some people grumbling about the arrangement.
"Mr. You is a very kind-hearted man. It seems the theft was not from his family."
However, they could only complain in a low voice. After all, the people in the village respected Mr. You, and no one would disobey him and be accused of disrespecting their elders.
Liao was dissatisfied with the result, but she could only grit her teeth and endure it.
Youjiao was a native of Xiaoshunli, a relative of You Gong, one of the three elders in the village. He also had the surname You and was known as You Youjiao. He was a minor official in the village, responsible for patrolling and catching criminals and thieves.
He had a chin like a swallow, a curly beard, and a rough appearance. He was an old acquaintance of Tian Shefu.
After the meeting, he spoke to Mr. Tian, rolled up his sleeves, and said indignantly, "That damn Qiao family, in order to occupy the mountain and make charcoal, asked the county magistrate to transfer you to guard the mountain. You've been working hard on the mountain for a while, so leave the patrol to me and you can rest."
Because the refugees gathered and blocked the road, making it difficult for ox carts to move, the Qiao family finally stopped coming to Niupi Mountain to make charcoal, and Zhuanggaiyi was liberated. However, the public land was now in the fallow period and did not need to be guarded, so the county arranged for him to come to the village to participate in patrol work.
However, no matter how the superiors arrange things, the people below can still make adjustments, You Youjiao thought.
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